Chapter 402

Chapter 402 A Hundred-Dollar Tip

Su Rui’s words undoubtedly made the atmosphere at the scene even heavier.

How could Yamamoto-gumi, the largest organization in the East, send people to assassinate the Yan father and son of the Desert Wolf Gang?

Weren’t they only connected to the Heroes’ Association?

Looking at the dead soldiers lying on the ground, Su Rui’s eyes had already narrowed. When he saw the Yamamoto-gumi’s emblem, his mood was genuinely unsettled.

If he had a choice, he would rather face the dark world of the West than go up against Yamamoto-gumi.

It wasn’t that he feared this top Eastern organization, but in his view, Yamamoto-gumi had always operated without humanity or any moral boundaries. If the two sides were to clash, there was a good chance many innocent people would get hurt.

Of course, Su Rui also understood that ever since he had single-handedly cut down nine Eastern warriors, the grudge between the two sides had become impossible to untangle.

The group returned to the stadium and, looking at the Yan father and son with their skulls split open, fell into silence.

“You already knew they would be attacked, didn’t you?” Zhang Ziwei clearly didn’t enjoy scenes like this, so she furrowed her brow.

“Are you suspecting me?” Su Rui’s gaze instantly turned cold.

“I have no choice but to suspect you.” Zhang Ziwei smiled bitterly. “Those two are dead, and everyone will think the Azure Dragon Gang did it. We won’t be able to wash ourselves clean even if we jumped into the Yellow River.”

After being shot at, Yan Kaida’s first instinct was that the Azure Dragon Gang was behind it, because among all the gangs in Ninghai, only the Azure Dragon Gang had a feud with them.

And the fact that Yan Kaida would think this way meant that many others would think the same.

Zhang Ziwei’s concern was not without reason. This blame had been firmly pinned onto the Azure Dragon Gang’s back.

“If last night you hadn’t tied them to the railing but instead moved them to a relatively safe location, this situation could have been avoided.” Zhang Ziwei stared fearlessly into Su Rui’s eyes and said with a meaningful tone, “But then they wouldn’t have been able to serve as bait.”

Su Rui laughed heartily, completely unbothered. He gestured toward Zhang Ziwei and said, “The night is lovely. Want to talk while we walk?”

Zhang Ziwei nodded. The stench of blood here was far too heavy, and she didn’t want to stay a second longer.

“Actually, I had no idea who harbored a grudge against the Yan father and son. The reason I tied them here was simply to test whether anyone would try to make a big deal out of this situation.” Su Rui smiled. “Now it seems the outcome is even more interesting than I imagined.”

“Even though I don’t know what connection the Desert Wolf Gang has with Yamamoto-gumi, if we dig deeper along this lead, we’re sure to find some very valuable clues.”

“I’ll have the Xin Tang people start investigating this.” What Zhang Ziwei was thinking about was something else entirely. As the first deputy gang leader, her mind was focused on how to clear the Azure Dragon Gang of suspicion. “But with the Yan father and son dead, everyone will think the Azure Dragon Gang did it. What should we do?”

“Sometimes you’re very sharp, and other times you’re dumb enough to be… infuriating.” Su Rui deliberated for a moment before settling on that descriptor.

Dumb enough to be infuriating?

Hearing this, a few dark lines quietly appeared on Zhang Ziwei’s forehead.

“This morning, I’m sure you saw it too. Nobody cares whether the Desert Wolf Gang collapses, and nobody cares whether its leader lives or dies. A rotten gang like that should have been wiped out ten years ago. The fact that it’s been limping along until now only goes to show that the forces in the Northwest have been far too soft.”

“Since nobody cares whether they live or die, who’s going to care who killed them? This father and son vanishing from the world won’t stir up much of a wave.” Su Rui said calmly. “So even if the Azure Dragon Gang really did do it, it wouldn’t be a problem.”

The moment Zhang Ziwei heard these words, she suddenly understood. She had simply been going around in circles earlier, otherwise she wouldn’t have grasped it so quickly once it was pointed out.

“Come with me somewhere.” Su Rui glanced at his watch and said.

“Where?” Zhang Ziwei didn’t have much resistance toward this man.

“I want to have a chat with Wanyan Zhengyong.”

He had just cut off someone’s arm, and now he wanted to go have a chat with them?

Zhang Ziwei was a woman, and she couldn’t quite understand the dynamics between men. But she didn’t have much objection to Su Rui’s decision.

…………

However, when Su Rui and Zhang Ziwei arrived at the hotel where the Yuanwei Gang’s leadership was staying, they found the place completely deserted.

Every room had been checked out. Not a single Yuanwei Gang disciple was standing guard or patrolling at the entrance.

Su Rui instinctively felt that something was wrong. He walked up to the front desk and woke the drowsy receptionist. “Where are the guests who were staying here? Did they all check out at once?”

Roused in the middle of the night, the receptionist rubbed their bleary eyes and said irritably, “They all checked out and left in the afternoon. It was very sudden. They didn’t even collect the room fees they’d paid in advance.”

“What’s going on?” Su Rui turned to look at Zhang Ziwei, who was equally stunned. It was clear from the expression on this Xin Tang leader’s face that she had no idea either.

“The undercover agent hasn’t sent back any word.” Zhang Ziwei said with a slight frown. “Under normal circumstances, the agent shouldn’t have been exposed. That leaves only one possibility — they left in such a hurry that there was simply no chance for the agent to pass along any information.”

“Why did they leave in such a rush?” Su Rui knew that even though he had already warned Wanyan Zhengyong not to try to get his hands on Ninghai, it was hard to say whether the other party would be disheartened enough to give up. Besides, before coming to Ninghai, Wanyan Zhengyong had long since set his sights on winning the championship of this decade’s grand tournament. Would he really give up that opportunity so easily?

At this point, Su Rui was at a loss.

“I’ll have people investigate right away to find out what happened.” Zhang Ziwei took out her phone, ready to issue orders.

“Let me handle it.” Su Rui stopped her, took out his phone, and dialed a number.

On the other end of the line, Luo Feiliang had been resting. When he saw that the call was from Su Rui, a flicker of complicated emotion crossed his eyes.

That night, although he had received the distress message Lin Aoxue had sent, for certain personal reasons he had forcibly held back Shangguan Mo and Qian Wanxing, preventing them from going to help Su Rui escape.

Afterward, Luo Feiliang felt he had no face to confront Su Rui. On top of that, the pair of eyes watching him from the shadows made his spine run cold at every moment. So from that day until now, Luo Feiliang had not taken the initiative to contact Su Rui.

Now, seeing Su Rui’s incoming call, he was torn deep inside.

Answer, or not?

Finally, after the phone had rung for a full half minute, Luo Feiliang made up his mind and pressed the answer button.

In that moment, his heart was beating very fast.

“All the Yuanwei Gang members have left the hotel. I need to trouble you to help me find out what exactly happened.”

Luo Feiliang had expected to face Su Rui’s reproach, but the latter didn’t bring up what had happened that night at all, and simply said it in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.

“All the Yuanwei Gang members have left the hotel?” The news surprised Luo Feiliang as well.

“Yes. I don’t know whether they’ve already left Ninghai. Whether by boat, train, or plane, I need to know their whereabouts.”

“I’ll get back to you in two hours.” Luo Feiliang said.

With the capabilities of national security, gathering this kind of information would take at least an hour or more. Luo Feiliang deliberately extended the timeframe, also needing to leave room to report to and seek instructions from the leadership in the capital.

“Alright.”

Su Rui didn’t ask for anything more, and simply said with a smile, “If you have time lately, we should get together for a meal.”

Hearing this, Luo Feiliang’s heart skipped a beat.

“Sure.” Luo Feiliang gave a simple reply and hung up.

After finishing the call, Su Rui walked to the front desk and said, “Could you please get me a room with two beds?”

Zhang Ziwei stood behind Su Rui, a little surprised, not sure what he was up to. Why was he getting a room at a time like this?

The receptionist looked at Su Rui, then at the charming Zhang Ziwei, and smiled meaningfully. “Why not a king room?”

Zhang Ziwei’s face immediately flushed red. She tried her best to stay composed, tugged at Su Rui’s arm, and said quietly, “Hey, what are you doing? Why are you getting a room at a time like this?”

“Of course I’m getting a room at a time like this.” Su Rui said. “It’s the middle of the night. Two hours is more than enough time for us to recover our energy. You need to seize every opportunity to rest, otherwise you won’t be able to handle what comes next.”

Zhang Ziwei was left completely flustered by what Su Rui said. Before she could even process it, she heard Su Rui say to the receptionist, “Could you please hurry?”

“Sir, are you sure you don’t want the king room?” The receptionist pressed, the corners of their mouth curling into a smile.

“Really, I don’t. I’m a gentleman.” Su Rui raised an eyebrow.

“But we only have king rooms available.” The receptionist thought they had figured out what Su Rui really meant, and thought to themselves: Please, I know exactly how you people work. Before hooking up, they all put on this gentleman act, pretending they want two beds, playing it up so convincingly — who are they fooling?

“Only king rooms? Didn’t you say a large group checked out this afternoon? Those rooms are all empty now.” No matter how he thought about it, Su Rui hadn’t expected the receptionist to pull something like this. In situations like this, he really had no experience.

If he had known the other person had misunderstood him, he probably would have found it both funny and frustrating. He had never once thought about pursuing Zhang Ziwei. Sure, she was attractive, but he wasn’t the type to try to take advantage of every woman he met.

“We only have king rooms. Our hotel does great business, and all the rooms from the earlier checkouts have already been reserved.” The receptionist was unusually firm. It would really be a shame if they didn’t become a matchmaker.

“Alright then, I guess we’ll have to make do.”

Even Su Rui, dense as he could be, understood that the other person was trying to do them a favor. He glanced at Zhang Ziwei, who pressed her lips together and said nothing. So he let out a soft sigh and handed the receptionist a 100-yuan tip.